1. The Flyers grabbed an early lead when Danny Briere scored less than two minutes into play. It was Briere's 13th goal of the season and his 11th goal in 27 career games against the Isles. Briere had a second goal waved off in the third period when it was determined that he had directed the puck into the goal with a distinct kicking motion.
2. Jon Sim tied the game with a goal early in the second period, off a great (and barely legal) pass by Mark Streit. Streit's pass was ruled to be below the shoulder; video replays were inconclusive. It was Sim's 4th goal of the season.
3. Carter's winning goal was his 14th of the season. Three of the fourteen have come against the Islanders. Scott Hartnell, who was held without a goal for the 12th straight game, assissted on both Flyer goals.
...a few more...
4. Michael Leighton evened his record at 4-4-0 as he made 28 saves. Marty Biron also made 28 saves, but lost his 6th straight start, dropping his record to 2-11-2. The Isles have scored only seven goals in those six games. However, neither goal that Biron allowed in this game appeared to be "good goals".
5. Each team failed on their only two power play attempts. The Isles have now killed seven straight over the last three games after allowing 18 pp goals in their previous 40 times shorthanded. The power play is now a dreadful 1- last 33, covering eight games and part of a ninth. This game ends a stretch of 16 games in which the Isles had won all seven games that they have not allowed a power play goal and lost all nine games that they had allowed at least one power play tally.
6. Eleven of the Islanders' 29 shots came from the defense. However, the Isles have had only one goal scored by a defensemen since November 13 (Andrew MacDonald scored against the Rangers on December 17th).
7. It's the sixth straight time that the Isles have lost the back-end of two games in two nights, including five straight in regulation. The Isles have also lost their last six straight games that followed a win at Madison Square Garden; they are 7-24-10 all-time in games following MSG victories.
8. The Islanders out-hit the Flyers 29-20, led by eight hits by Trent Hunter and six hits (in just 6:28 of ice-time) by Tim Jackman. The Flyers won 31 of the 54 face-offs.
9. The Isles have scored four goals just once in the last 16 games after scoring four in eight of the first 24 games (not including an awarded 4th goal in a shootout victory).
10. The Flyers lead the season series 3 games to 0 (and 6 points-0). The teams next meet on January 30th in Philadelphia. The Flyers are the first team to ever win 13 consecutive games from the Islanders. However, the Islanders have three longer winless streaks against other opponents:
-- 22 games against Washington (0-19-3) between 1997 and 2002
-- 17 games against Buffalo (0-12-5) in the first 17 games between the teams
-- 17 games against Ottawa (0-11-6, including an OT loss) between 1996 and 2000.
Up next: The struggling Columbus Blue Jackets visit Long Island on Tuesday nights. It's only the 5th ever visit by the Blue Jackets, with each team winning twice, including the Isles' 4-3 overtime win last November 3rd on a Chris Campoli goal. The Isles have never won in Columbus -- a streak that they will try to end on March 27th. The reeling Blue Jackets are 1-9-3 in December; they'll host Detroit on Monday before heading to Long Island. Columbus has lost nine straight (0-7-2) and has scored only eight goals in their last six games (0-5-1). Columbus has an 11-game winless streak on the road and they have lost 17 of their last 19 overall.
Forever1940 is the nom de plume of Eric Hornick, statistician on Islander home telecasts since 1982. Visit my blog: forever1940.blogspot.com and follow me on Twitter @ehornick
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